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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelf.,JI.i-^.^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Seekers After God 



Sonnets 



BY 



Wm. Preston Johnston 



Ml 




LOUISVILLE, KY. 

JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY 

1898 



1 









>A 



^^ 






Cop?rigbte&, 1898, 

bS 

"Oam. ipreeton Johnston. 

^COPIES RECEIV; 




CONTENTS. 

patt ffirst. 
Seekers After God. — Sonnets. 

PAGE 

Dedication 7 

Prologue — 

Part I " 

Part II 12 

Part III 13 

The Windows of Heaven — 

Reason ^7 

Obedience ^^ 

Faith 19 

The Law 20 

Inspiration 21 

At the Barriers — 

Pythagoras 25 

Socrates I 26 

Socrates II 27 

Socrates III 28 



Contenta, 



At the Barriers — Continued. p^^p 

Scipio 29 

Julius Caesar 30 

Cicero 31 

Seneca 32 

Epictetus 33 

Marcus Aurelius 34 

The Eyes Unsealed — Disciples of the Lord — 

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness 37 

John the Baptist 38 

Simon Bar-Jona 39 

Peter the Confessor 40 

Peter the Denier 41 

Peter After Pentecost 42 

Saul of Tarsus I 43 

Saul of Tarsus II 44 

Paul 45 

John the Seer 46 

The Apocalypse 47 

Pilgrims of the Cross — 

Telemachus 51 

The Saint of the Desert 52 

The Knight Errant 53 

The Benedictine 54 



Contents. 



Pilgrims of the Cross — Continued. p^^j. 

The Franciscan 55 

Columbus I 56 

Columbus II 57 

Ignatius Loyola 58 

Hugh Latimer jg 

John Wesley 60 

James Martineau 61 

Stanley and Kingsley 62 

Bishop Pattison 63 

Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D 64 

To Sophie 65 

Dives and Lazarus 66 

Dives-Lazarus 67 

The Forgotten Saints 68 

Saints of To-day 69 

To a Saint on Earth 70 

To a Saint in Heaven 71 

part Second. 

The Absolute — The Cry of Faith 75 



TO MISS HENRIETTA PRESTON JOHNSTON. 

In this small hook I seek the sonnet's aid, 
Some pictures of the past in words to paint 
And show how seekers after God essayed 
To find him ; patriarch and martyred saint 
And spotless sage free from all selfish taint 
And Christian knight and missionary mild. 
And how heaven answers to the heart's wild plaint, 
And wisdom cometh to the little child. 

But none of those whom I on earth have known 
Have sought God's will with a more strenuous quest, 
IVith eager prayer and thought of Him alone 
And anxious wish to do his least behest 
Than thou, my sister, earliest, dearest friend, 
To whom these autumn leaves with love I send. 



pact jpfrst. 

Seel^ers after (5ot). 

Sonnets. 



SEEKERS AFTER GOD. 

PROLOGUE. 

'' I ^HE bard who would the storied past rehearse, 

-•■ What things the spirit wrought in word and deed, 
Should strike a note unerring in his verse, 
A cypher give that he who runs may read. 
How answers then the sonnet to his need, 
Its metre strained, its tangled sleave of rhyme, 
The structural artifice true art must heed 
Where stringent form and soaring thought should chime .'' 
Art hath its phases ; now it stands sublime 
In Milton's marvellous imaginings ; 
Dryden's sonorous line stales not with time ; 
In woodnotes wild the Ayrshire ploughman sings : 
So none need scorn the pipe as small for fame 
By Petrarch blown and Browning's gentle dame. 



Sccfters aftet ©oD. 



I LEAVE the trumpet and full throated horn 
Of epic to the leaders of the choir, 
The martial strain, the sigh of love forlorn. 
To him who smites the loud resounding lyre 
And chants with lips touched by the sacred fire 
Imperial themes of patriot fervor born, 
The joy of combat and the noble ire 
That withers wrong with fierce consuming fire. 

My task, to show the patriarchs of the eld 
And seekers after God by nature's light 
And saints who witnessed truth in suffering ; 
Small pictures of the past by faith beheld, 
That grants dim eyes a sacred second sight ; 
These in the sonnet's narrow bounds I sing. 



prologue. 



T^HE search of man for God, the mightiest theme 

'■' That ever can his loftiest thought engage ! 
Is his clear vision but an idle dream, 
The mind's mirage to lure the doubting sage 
With phantom waters that can not assuage 
His thirst divine, or are the spires that gleam 
Above Heaven's battlements from age to age 
To eyes unsealed, as real as they seem ? 

To him who sees them not, they are not ; clod 

Of crudest clay by spirit uninformed, 

His body, breath and reason have their day 

And into nothingness would pass away, 

But that, by grace regenerate and warmed 

To a new being, he may grope toward God. 



Zhe TOlnt)ow0 of Ibeaven. 



THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN. 

REASON. 

^X^HE budding world was in its bloomstrewn prime, 

^ And from it Nature rose, a temple vast ; 
Its architects, twin Titans, Space and Time, 
Rested, their handiwork complete, when last 
Into the pageant a new Being passed. 
The one appointed in the splendid shrine 
High priest, o'er all his soverein sway to cast 
And fill the void with energy divine. 
For all the beams from stars, moon, sun, that shine 
Could not from Nature lift the dreary pall 
Till on man's brow was set the imperial sign 
Of the self-conscious soul that saw it all 
In the clear light of reason, which to men 
Came through the window opened from Heaven then. 



Seefters Bftet ©oo. 



OBEDIENCE. 

^X^HE mighty temple of the human soul, 

^ Lit through one only casement by a ray 
Of natural reason, saw long ages roll 
While mankind mouldered to a slow decay, 
Because they yielded not to reason's sway, 
But let false fiends crawl to the niches high 
And foul forms squat in places where men pray ; 
So that 'twere best this race corrupt should die. 
But no ! man hath a loftier destiny ; 
Knowledge gives light, but from the sloughs of sense 
In vain the struggling soul essays to fly 
Unless obedience leads the spirit hence. 
Another window's radiance through the gloom 
To Noah showed man's path from death and doom. 



XLbe TKHlnDows of Heaven. 



FAITH. 

y^ROM the broad plains where wandering herdsmen dwelt, 

^ A Prince of Ur — men call him now a sheikh — 

Of the colossal type, severe, antique, 

Led off his bands. The Lord had kindly dealt 

With him and his ; his grateful spirit felt 

The trust a son unto his father feels 

As in his boyhood at that knee he kneels, 

While all his fervent love and passions melt 

Into a faith, unquenchable, supreme. 

In God he trusts ; from Heaven's high battlement 

A blaze of glory fills his horsehair tent 

And rolling splendors o'er his spirit stream ; 

His vision pierces Nature's lofty dome 

And treads the fields where guardian angels roam. 



Seefterg after (3o&. 



THE LAW. 

Tj^ROM Egypt's teeming fields the Hebrews fled, 

-*• Passed the deep waters, tracked the desert sand, 

Following his steps where'er the Seer led, 

And to the Mountain came, an altar grand, 

Reared in the waste by an Almighty hand, 

That here Earth's self should smoke, and flames arise, 

While royal Moses as High Priest should stand, 

The tables twain to take, and sacrifice. 

Then came the Law amid a nation's cries 

Of fear and mad revolt from God's command 

And lurid light that, issuing from the skies, 

Made all the Earth, at last, a Holy Land ; 

Commandments forged to fetter men from wrong 

But wrought by righteousness to weapons strong. 



tlbc TlDllnDow0 of Meaven. 



INSPIRATION. 



SPIRIT Divine that o'er creation broods, 
Filling with life the outer bounds of space 
And thrilling further yet the amplitudes 
Beyond the finite ken, Thou hast by grace 
From Thy pure essence lent a spark, a trace, 
Of Deity, in those benignant moods 
Wherein the Infinite reveals His face 
To holy men, but still their grasp eludes. 

And thus to David's heaven-strung harp there came 
Music that matched the worship of his song, 
Remorse and penitence and words of flame ; 
And prophets spake with inspiration strong. 
Before their eyes ages to come unroll. 
And tire -touched lips recite the seraphs' scroll. 



at tbe Bardere, 



AT THE BARRIERS. 

PYTHAGORAS. 

y^^ OING down through the valley of Hades, 
^"^ The immemorial dim dusk of the eld, 
Of my daemon I ask whose grand shade is 
That presence majestic, that form unexcelled ; 
And then by emotions prepotent impelled, 
I say, as the hem of his raiment I touch, 
"Dear Master, if thou hast in silence withheld 
Some part of thy wisdom, of which thou hast much, 
Teach me, I pray thee, in aid of mankind." 
Pythagoras answered, ' ' One thing is sure ; 
Man is deaf to the rhythm of nature, and blind 
To its order. Physician, this thought is his cure ; 
That Kosmos is justly and wisely designed, 
And its harmony sounds in the ears of the pure." 



Seefterg after (5o^. 

SOCRATES. 

L 

TN earl}^ Hellas, clear as crystal wave 

-*■ In sky, in atmosphere, in minds of men. 

Whether in frolic sport or discourse grave 

Its thought ran riot, or beyond the ken 

Of worshippers of idols of the den 

Lifted its haughty head to probe the vault 

And from Olympus force reply again, 

The strong winged soul found in its flight no halt, 

But to the empyreal sphere soared in assault. 

So Socrates through myth and mystery saw, 

And Plato strove the Idea to exalt 

That veiled the Maker in unchanging Law; 

Seekers for truth, in which for God they sought 

And won the crown for which their souls had wrought. 



36 



Bt tbc JBarrlera. 



SOCRATES. 

//. 

VVTHEN Socrates, he of the shabby robe, 

^^ Had earned from Athens the unjust decree 
That sentenced him to death, because his probe 
Had touched its self love. Pity said, "Go free, 
Thy prison gates to-night unbarred shall be ; 
Walk forth, and in some happier clime thy fame 
Will blossom yet to immortality, 
Nor can detraction visit thee with blame." 
"Nay, friends, have I not told you that there came 
Unto mine inmost soul a potent voice 
That bade me put all false conceit to shame 
And place the common welfare first ; no choice 
Is left. For me the hemlock cup to take 
Is better far than Athens' laws to break." 



87 



Seefterg Btter (5oJ), 

SOCRATES. 

A THREADBARE cloak, alas, a tattered sleeve, 
^ ^ A smile ironical, a biting tongue. 
The honied sarcasm of a bee that stung, 
The arguments that puzzle and deceive, 
The snares his crafty questions interweave ! 
And yet, O Socrates, how wise men hung 
Upon thy words, those precious jewels flung 
Unto a swinish multitude ; it grieves 
Our very souls that Plato's garnered sheaves 
And worthy Xenophon's small talk is all 
That from the buried past we can recall ; 
Small remnant of thy legacy it leaves. 
One saying stays ; that thou wouldst gladly die 
To share with just men immortality. 



|8 



at tbe JBarrlers. 



SCIPIO. 

THESE ceremonial forms and ancient rites, 
These solemn auguries by seers made, 
The sign that bodes, the portent that affrights, 
The ghost of which the soldier is afraid, 
The pomp of superstition's masquerade 
Are passing dreams to Scipio, who delights 
To climb with Plato the aerial grade 
Of thought where calm Philosophy invites. 
Conqueror of Carthage, there are loftier heights 
To which thy soul shall rise ; the captive maid 
Free from all fear, the victory that excites 
Nor wrath nor greed, these laurels shall not fade. 
Thy clement soul in search of truth shall see 
Three golden steps, to know, to do, to be. 



39 



Seefters Bfter (3oD. 



JULIUS C^SAR. 

'' I '"HE foremost man of all the world! Is't true? 

■*■ His was a mind that grasped the whole of life, 
That gazed with equal brow on calm and strife, 
Gleaned what the past bequeathed, yet seized the new, 
And saw the ages march in grand review. 
The stern republic of an earlier day, 
Rent into fragments, mouldering to decay. 
Still felt the thirst to combat and subdue, 
The instinct fierce the old paths to pursue 
Which led to conquest and imperial sway. 
This Caesar saw ; and though his pathway lay 
Across the muniments of time, he drew 
Into his sovereign hand all that was old 
And bade a new world from the germs unfold. 



30 



Bt tbe JSarrfcrs. 



CICERO. 



V17THEN martial Rome had stretched her 

^^ conquering sword 

Wide o'er the lands, Philosophy held sway 
Where once ancestral gods had been adored. 
Then rival sects made battle in word-play ; 
Stoic and Epicurean had his say, 
And in the clash of tongues each felt assured 
That he alone stood in the light of day. 
Great Tully looked on, smiling, and endured 
The babble till his patience was outworn, 
Then, with full measure of his talents ten 
And mental sinews trained in every school 
And learning copious as rich Plenty's horn. 
He grasped the problem old 'twixt gods and men, 
To find in nature that one God must rule. 



31 



Seelfterg Bftcr (BoD. 



SENECA. 

I 7AVORITE of fortune, Seneca the wise, 

-*■ Offspring of intellect and virtuous thought. 

Possessing all things that men seek or prize. 

Desiring most the things that good men ought, 

And loving well the truths himself had taught ; 

Yet by the cruel irony of fate 

Condemned to wear as chains what most men sought, 

Rank, ease, power, wealth, the favor of the great. 

He kept his steadfast eyes on virtue's gate, 

But dared not enter it beyond retreat ; 

For, crouching near, envy and lynx-eyed hate 

And murder foul watched his advancing feet. 

His nerveless hand to cope with evil tried, 

But lacking strength greatly to live, — he died. 



3« 



Bt tbe JBarrlers. 



EPICTETUS. 

^ LAVE of the slave of that still baser slave, 

^^ Who, having all things, worshipped self alone, 

Nero, in whose foul breast, as in a grave, 

Festered all infamies born of a throne. 

One Epictetus, a poor cripple shone 

Upon a darkened world as shines a star 

Through a dim, clouded dawn, and, to the moan 

Of human pain that welled up near and far, 

Pointed in silence to his scourge and scar, 

Or spoke to fainting hearts, "Who would be strong,- 

Balm for the sores of peace, the wounds of war — 

Must learn to suffer and to do no wrong." 

His words, his life, to men a lesson gave 

That made Aurelius pattern on the slave. 



33 



Sceftcrg Btter <Bo5. 



MARCUS AURELIUS. 

'1 7ICTORIOUS Rome had crystallized the world 

^ Into an empire, and her Genius stood 
In one man lodged until his brain was whirled 
With madness and untrammeled masterhood ; 
And evil sat enthroned, nor any could 
Stem or withstand corruption's poisonous tide, 
So that belief, that aught of true or good 
On earth remained, in human hearts had died. 
But that, imperial power, thus deified. 
Came to a youth, self centred, truly great, 
Who made a chaste philosophy the bride 
Of his exalted reason, and the state 
His only care, but yet in twilight groped, 
While slaves attained what Marcus only hoped. 



34 



Dieclples of tbe XorD. 



THE EYES UNSEALED. 

A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. 

A VOICE! A Voice — and is it but a voice 
^ ^ That from the wilderness sends up a cry ? 
"God's Kingdom is at hand; your only choice, 
O wretched ! is to turn from sin or die. 
Bring forth good fruits ; the poor man's needs supply ; 
Be just, be merciful. Behold the Lord, 
Whose rule shall spread unto eternity ! 
A prophet I ? Nay, but a Voice ! The Word 
That Was and Is comes like a seraph's sword 
To bend brute force to the free spirit's sway. 
Where'er His tidings glad by men are heard ; 
But John's faint echoes shall soon die away." 
Not so, O greater than a prophet, thou 
From Herod's dungeon rose and livest now ! 



37 



Seeftet5 after ©oO. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

VV'T'HAT went ye to the wilderness to see ? 

^ ^ Was it a reed shaken by the desert wind ? 
But wherefore went ye ? Hoping what to find ? 
A man clothed in soft raiment ? Nay, but he, 
Who dares to beard the haughty Pharisee, 
In camel's hair and leathern girdle clad, 
Brings contrite hearts the gospel that makes glad. 
And warns the wicked Heaven's wrath to flee ; 
For One will come whose fan is in His hand 
To gather in His wheat and purge the floor. 
John is His herald ; none has gone before 
Of woman born whose name shall greater stand ; 
But yet unto the very least in Heaven 
A higher place than unto John is given. 



(Tbe B'Qce *Gln5cale&. 



SIMON BAR-JONA. 

T"^ ARE-KNEED he waded in the reedy lake, 

-^-^ Or pushed his scallop further from the shore, 

Or hoisted sail where rougher waters break, 

With stalwart arms that plied the bladed oar 

And shoulders galled with the huge loads they bore. 

But still beneath their pent house gleamed dark eyes 

With lambent fire, and his stern visage wore 

The signs of thought that spreads its wings and flies. 

But why to him should come the glad surprise ? 

Why should he be Messiah's chosen friend, — 

This fisherman of bleak Gennesaret — 

Bidden henceforth for men to cast his net? 

The Lord whose kingdom comes and knows no end 

Discerns His own through nature's thin disguise. 



39 



Seehera Bttet (3od. 



PETER THE CONFESSOR. 

T^HE Twelve, and The One, they were thirteen in all, 

-*■ Were wearily walking a summer's day 
The road to the Roman city whose wall 
Loomed by the coast. They were seeking the Way 
To eternal life, and they halted to pray. 
Then Jesus asked of the Twelve, by what name 
The people spake of him ; whom did they say 
The vSon of Man was. They answered, ' ' His fame 
Was that of a prophet, Elijah or John." 
"But whom say j^, that I am.''" said the Lord. 
Simon answered, "The Christ! Thou art the Son 
Of the Living God." Then Jesus, "That Word 
Is the rock I build on. Thou, Peter, art blest 
That my Father hath shown thee what thou hast confessed." 



40 



Zbe JE^cs TandcaleO. 



PETER THE DENIER. 

'' I ^HE King of Glory took the cup of shame 

■*■ And pressed it to his lips. By one betrayed, 
All the Apostles, who had in His Name 
Wrought miracles, fled from him sore afraid. 
But Peter followed, though afar, and stayed 
Outside the throng and yet within the court, 
Dazed with tumultuous terrors, when a maid 
Spied him, and cried, "Thou, too, make thy report, 
Thou Nazarene ! " He cursed, yea, he denied 
With oaths that he was of them, or even knew 
The Man of Sorrows shortly to be tried, 
Thus thrice e'er dawn ; and when the cock twice crew, 
He was aware and wept. O human heart. 
How strong, how weak, how wonderful thou art ! 



4» 



Seefters Btter (3oJ). 



PETER AFTER PENTECOST. 

VIT'T'HERE late ye fled a flock of fugitives, 

^^ Scattered like sheep before a ravening beast, 
Because your Christ was dead, now that He lives 
And ye have seen Him, all your fears have ceased. 
Nor Herod, Pilate, Sanhedrim or priest 
Can awe you any more ; for Pentecost 
Hath signed your brows with flame, and so increased 
Your zeal for Christ that each man is a host. 
Eager to meet what other men fear most 
And what the rest desire esteeming least ; 
So Peter, who denied, again can boast 
That death is welcome as a marriage feast. 
Transformed by grace, no more his soul shall quail. 
Nor 'gainst the Rock the gates of Hell prevail. 



42 



T 



^be iS^ce TUnsealeD. 

SAUL OF TARSUS. 

/. 

HE Chief Priest asked, * ' What man shall have command 



And journey to Damascus to hale thence 
The wretched Nazarenes who fret the land 
With lies about their false Christ, an offense 
Deserving death. We need intelligence. 
Courage and fiery zeal that will withstand 
Pity, prayer, argument ; a man intense. 
Fierce for the Law, and with an iron hand." 
A scribe replied, ' ' The man to lead your band 
Is Saul of Tarsus, by all men confessed 
Vehement in faith, without fear, and grand 
In hate of error; he will cure the pest." 
Saul, breathing slaughter, was for havock sent ; 
The Scourge of God came back a penitent. 



43 



Sccftcrs Bfter ©oO. 

SAUL OF TARSUS. 

IL 

"Y^THAT haughty horseman rides the dusty road 

^^ That to Damascus leads? It is the Jew 
Who at GamaHel's feet so long abode 
And all the learning of the ancients knew. 
A Pharisee of Pharisees, he grew 
Wise in the law of Moses, Israel's code, 
And inspiration from the prophets drew, 
Bending his shoulders to the Talmud's load ; 
So that to him all streams of influence flowed, 
To fill his soul with wrath against the crew 
Of recreant Hebrews who sedition sowed. 
And stir his zeal their schism to subdue. 
To shield the Covenant with his stubborn will 
Was Saul's large purpose ; God's was larger still. 



44 



Zlic Eses innsealeO. 



PAUL. 

y^ ROUD SAUL, on bigotry's harsh mission bound, 

-*■ With rancor filled, across the sultry plain 

Toward green Damascus shook his bridle rein. 

When lo, a sudden glory shone around, 

And stricken with blindness, prostrate to the ground 

He fell, with all his band. O Paul, in vain 

Didst thou consent to witness Stephen slain ; 

Almighty power can human plans confound. 

Thy learning, zeal and heart brave, clean and sound. 

The Lord had need of ; so that thou didst gain 

Through blindness sight, the right to suffer pain. 

And at the last with martyrdom be crowned. 

The Voice that spake to thee gave thee a voice 

That bade the Gentile world in Christ rejoice. 



45 



SeeJ\cv3 Bttet (3o2). 



JOHN THE SEER. 

OFOR the vision of glory that broke 
On the soul of the saint, apostle of love, 
Who hung on the Master's lips when he spoke, 
And beheld the Spirit in shape hke a dove 
Descend on his Lord, and heard from above 
The voice that called Him His Son, and awoke 
To the fact — the great fact — the centuries prove. 
That matter serves Spirit as symbol and cloak ! 
His eyes were unsealed through love for the friend 
Who had chastened his zeal and pointed the way 
To the realm of the Lamb and bliss without end, 
The splendors of Zion and perpetual day. 
Love was the key to those portals of love 
That opened to earth the mansions above. 



46 



Zbe J£^C6 TansealeD. 



THE APOCALYPSE. 

T TTSION on vision of glory supernal 

' Broke like wild billows on soul and on sight 
Of the saint who, through time and aeons eternal 
And realms beyond space, in spirit took flight. 
Mountains delectable, streams of delight, 
Oceans of crystal and islands elysian, 
Cherubim, Seraphim, angels of might, 
Bands of the blest bent on heavenly mission, 
And Jesus Himself in glory resplendent, 
The First and the Last, on jasper enthroned, 
Star sceptered, supreme, with power transcendent, 
In garments of pity, with righteousness zoned, 
To John the Divine were on Patmos revealed 
When the angel of God his eyes had unsealed. 



47 



DMIgrims of tbc dvoes. 



PILGRIMS OF THE CROSS. 

TELEMACHUS. 

The Martyr of the Amphitheatre, 

'' I ^HE Rome of Diocletian, steeped in blood 

-*- Of Christian martyrs, long had passed away, 
And the new faith, like a great Alpine flood, 
Above the empire's submerged levels lay, 
And even the Caesars owned Christ's gentle sway. 
Yet in the Circus low browed thousands swarmed 
To watch the gladiators' brutal fray 
And cheered the onset and for victims stormed. 

The games were set, the swordsmen stood arrayed. 
When from the benches to the arena sprang 
The monk Telemachus, beating down each blade ; 
Then the mob stoned him, while their fierce cries rang. 
There the monk died, the sand stained with his gore ; 
Rome wept, and saw those bloody sports no more. 

51 



Seekers Bttec (3od« 



THE SAINT OF THE DESERT. 

^TT^HE world is cruel, in the slough of sin, 

-*■ And bad brute force tramples on Adam's seed ; 
In the hot race of life the vilest win, 
And power wrings tribute from the poor man's need ; 
Then what is left is shared by craft and greed ; 
Heaven hath no ear to hear amid the din, 
Though lust corrupts and human hearts must bleed. 
When will the reign of righteousness begin? 

Eager am I my trembling soul to save ; 
O God, Thou knowest that I would be pure, 
But man is cruel and I am not strong 
To cope with savagery and combat wrong. 
Still I can pray, shun sin and much endure, 
Far from the world hid in some desert cave. 



52 



pllfltlms of tbe Cross. 



THE KNIGHT ERRANT. 

THE world is full of sin — a cruel world — 
King Satan hath unbarred the gates of hell 
And his foul cohorts of bad spirits hurled 
To spread confusion and the discord swell. 
These rave and ravin and strike the final knell 
Of man on earth ; millennium now draws near 
And imminent war with the foul fiends who fell ; 
So timid souls creep palsied with base fear. 

But why stand I braced with this stalwart brawn 

And with a heart robust as solid oak, 

But to make battle with the infernal spawn 

And stand between them and God's common folk.'* 

Therefore to God and man, whate'er my fate, 

My sword, my strength, my hfe, I dedicate. 



53 



Scefters Bfter (3o&. 



THE BENEDICTINE. 



THE great world seethes ; men fight for gold or power, 
And bloodstains redden castle, court and cot ; 
Sin stalks abroad or shames the lady's bower ; 
In vain we look to find the happy spot 
Where righteousness prevails and sin is not. 
The cloister only is a rock built tower 
Against the woe which is the common lot. 
The wretchedness that is our earthly dower. 

Here in its sheltered walls I quiet find. 

As peacefully I pace the shaded walk. 

And list our stately abbot's wise, sweet talk, 

Or join in psalmody with joyous mind ; 

Or, that Christ's gospel some poor souls may reach. 

What things I know I humbly, gladly teach. 



54 



IMlgrlms of tbe Cross. 



THE FRANCISCAN. 

" f f AVE pity, dear Christ, on the sons of men, 
■*■ -*■ Who grovel and starve in alleys and docks ; 
The wolf hath his lair, the bear hath his den 
And conies hide in the holes of the rocks ; 
But the shelter of home is denied thy liocks 
Who huddle and slink in the filth and mire 
Of the sewers called cities, where misery mocks, 
Whose sons pass to Moloch through torture and fire 
But I ! What can I do ? Jesu ! I can cry, 
"Dear Brother, come forth from the cesspool of sin, 
The help of my hand, the throb of my heart 
Are thine if thou wilt, rise up, do thy part. 
Thou canst not ? Thou shalt ! One soul I will win 
For the Lord who is deaf to no penitent's sigh." 



55 



SeeTierd Bfter (3od. 
COLUMBUS. 

WHAT seer can tell where mighty thoughts are born, 
Or whence they come to men ? The humble cot, 
By which the proud pass with a glance of scorn. 
In after days becomes a hallowed spot 
Where pilgrim feet resort. The Fates allot 
Unto Porphyrogene oblivion's pall ; 
Imperial grandeur is right soon forgot ; 
The grave's black bondage makes of wealth its thrall. 

Columbus nurtured near the weaver's beam, 
Where a sad sire the frequent shuttle threw, 
Saw floods of light upon his spirit stream 
And from Heaven's fountains living waters drew. 
Through work and zeal the vision large unfurled 
That gave mankind and him a second world. 



56 



COLUMBUS. 

T^HOU art not yet a saint, or canonized, 

'■' In calendar of church, or men's esteem, 
Grand Christopher ! The things thy soul most prized, 
The two worlds that made up thy life long dream 
Are commonplace and trite, as men now deem ; 
The young world that thy caravels explored 
Beyond the ocean's verge and earth's extreme. 
But most the sphere unseen wherein thy spirit soared. 

But who among the sons of mortal men 
Showed stouter heart in want, or storm, or fray, 
Or fortitude the stings of fate to bear.? 
At each rebuff thine essay, made again 
Through mirk and misdoubt, found at last a way, 
And heaven made answer to thy toil and prayer ! 



57 



Sccftecs Bttcr (5o5. 



IGNATIUS LOYOLA. 



"YirTHEN Pampeluna's walls in dust were laid, 

^^ Some stout defenders, still on fight intent, 
Back to the citadel their footsteps bent ; 
And there Loyola, tranquil, undismayed, 
Still held the breach with his ensanguined blade. 
Until he sank, with grievous wounds forspent. 
Then on the couch of pain, with anguish rent, 
To king and country his full debt was paid. 

There to a higher life he felt the call. 
And found the pattern of a perfect man 
In Jesus ; and conceived the mighty plan 
Of service in His Name that holds in thrall 
The masterful and wise, and bends the will 
Of thousands in its forceful bondage still. 



58 



Ipilgrims of tbe Cross. 



HUGH LATIMER. 

BLUFF Latimer, brave, honest and robust, 
Who cared not what the Court or courtiers thought, 
But had a charge to keep, a sacred trust, 
A mission and a work that must be wrought, 
A battle with the Arch-fiend to be fought, 
And met unblenched great Harry's awful frown — 
Those bended brows with deadly purpose fraught — 
Looking beyond to a thorn-twisted crown, 
When at the stake the cruel flame's mad flight 
Wreathed to an aureole round his reverend head. 
To Ridley said, "Brother, this candle's light 
Will over all the realm of England spread." 
Thus persecution's baleful pyre became 
Truth's dayspring and a Pentecostal flame. 



59 



Seeliccs Uttct (5oJ). 



JOHN WESLEY. 

y^^ENTURIES of form and dogma had o'erpast 

^"^ Since Christ had shown men how to hve and die, 

And saints had come and gone, and now at last 

Rehgion cloaked conventionality. 

The world was sunk in sense — a living lie — 

And England's easy ethics, futile thought. 

Cast in a mould of smug gentility, 

Deemed poor humanity a thing of naught. 

But underneath that rotten thin veneer 

Surged fires volcanic, born of human hate, 

That wrecked the order and the idea old ; 

So all seemed lost, but that Ithuriel's spear. 

In Wesley's hand, unmasked the potentate 

Of Hell, and warmed to hfe men's hearts grown cold. 



60 



IMlgrtms of tbc Cross. 



JAMES MARTINEAU. 

O MIGHTY preacher, heretic and saint, 
Who liftest high thy soul above the fog 
Of creed and ritual and the Cimmerian bog 
Of dogma in whose quicksands strong men faint, 
How hast thy soaring spirit 'scaped the taint 
Of a material creed and risen to heights sublime, 
O'erleaping the strong fence of space and time 
In bold attempts the ways of God to paint? 

Such strength is given by Him who knows all hearts, 
Who sets for each the limits of his scope, 
Who hath endowed thee with a prescience rare. 
To see things as they are, in whole, not parts, 
And filled thee with the love and faith and hope 
Of those who feel the Master's special care. 



6i 



Seehers Bfte« (5oD. 



STANLEY AND KINGSLEY. 

¥ LOOKED toward Zion with uplifted eyes, 

^ And saw upon its height that wondrous shrine, 

Built for his God by Solomon the Wise, 

Fit dwelling for Jehovah, Lord divine ! 

On stone and cedar golden bucklers shine, 

But most of all its stately portal caught 

My rapt attention and reverent thought, 

With two grand pillars of inspired design, 

I looked again, but this time with the eye 
Of faith that gazed upon a fabric fair. 
Built by the spirit ; pillars twain were there. 
Established — strong" — "wisdom and charity;" 
Upon their front this legend, ' ' These endure, 
Stanley and Kingsley make the saying sure." 



62 



Ipilgrlms of tbe Cross. 



BISHOP PATTISON. 

•^^N the further verge of this vast round world 

^*-^ In the waste of waters, reahn of the wave, 

Lie dreamy isles on its bosom impearled, 

Where the billows surge and the strong blasts rave. 

For a myriad years they have been the grave 

Of races forgotten, unshriven, unblest ; 

But a hero said, "they have souls to save," 

And went with the cross on his dreary quest. 

He planted the blistered blood-stained rood. 

And, watered with tears, it grew and spread 

Like the fronds of a palm, and the storms withstood ; 

But the tempest fell on the good man's head 

As he prayed and toiled without surcease. 

Till the Lord, through martyrdom, gave release. 



63 



Secfters after (5o&. 



REV. B. M. PALMER, D. D. 

y^OR fourscore years he trod this mortal earth, 
^ Unsoiled by touch with all its devious ways ; 
So good men loved his genius and his worth 
And freely gave him honest meed of praise ; 
And thus he rounded out his length of days 
In usefulness and honor. So he became 
The guide of souls lost in life's tangled maze ; 
But still his work was in his Master's name, 
Willing to bear for Him the cross of shame. 
With potent teaching his winged words went wide, 
Searching the hearts of men as with a flame ; 
And as he told how Jesus lived and died, 
On seraph's pinions his rapt spirit soared 
And o'er the world its holy influence poured. 



pilgdntd of tbe Crosd. 
TO SOPHIE. 

On the Dedication of the Chapel of the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College. 

T^WO mighty angels of the Lord of Hosts 

-*■ Swept to our earth from realms beyond the sky, 
Fulfilling thus the service of their posts, 
Homeward a saintly soul to bear on high ; 
Their names were Life and Immortality. 
The angel Life saith, "Here they call me Death, 
And when Life comes to souls, men say they die, 
And thou, too, art with them a passing breath." 

"This is not right," the other angel saith, 

"The soul that soars to Heaven should still abide 

On earth till time shall end, and Life, called Death, 

Shall over sin and pain victorious ride. 

Its influence pouring in a love divine 

On human hearts that hold it as a shrine." 



65 



Seekers Btter ©oO. 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 

TN royal purple and fine linen clad 

■*■ Dives sat in his lordly banquet hall, 

And wallowed in his wealth, and thought that all 

Was gathered there that can the heart make glad 

And from his table to a beggar sad 

There fell some crumbs as he lay at the gate, 

Sick, sore and bruised, in body and estate — 

Then the world passed, and each his portion had. 

And Dives, thirsting, looked from nether hell 
To where in Abram's bosom Lazarus lay 
In peace and comforted, and fell to pray 
And make his plaint and all his woes to tell. 
Then Abram answered, "Son, thou hadst thy part. 
And now this poor one must lie next my heart." 



66 



ptlgrims of tbe Cross. 



DIVES-LAZARUS. 



'' I ^ALL marble columns, placques of malachite, 

^ Things wrought in ivory, fabrics for each whim, 
Broad acres, steeds that mock the arrow's flight. 
And white-sailed ships deep laden to the brim 
Or built for pride o'er summer seas to skim, 
Riches in all its forms, to use or waste. 
Are Dives', and their glitter shed on him ; 
They throng and urge him pleasure's cup to taste. 

Unto his well groomed body, cleanly shaped. 
He says, "O body, thou art sound and whole," 
Then whispers to a Something darkly draped, 
"But thou, O secret, wretched, leprous soul. 
Canst thou win back by all this store of wealth, 
One hour, one moment, of the breath of health.'" 



67 



Seeliers Bttet (3oD. 



THE FORGOTTEN SAINTS. 

'' I THROUGHOUT the long procession of the ages, 

-*■ The seekers after God in pain have striven, 
And saints have suffered, and to wistful sages 
A glimpse of truth eternal has been given. 
Like those rare sentries in the vault of heaven 
That make it luminous with shining rays, 
The Pleiades, the sacred sisters seven, 
Sirius and splendid Arcturus, these blaze ; 
Meanwhile, a multitude, in tangled maze 
Of starry systems, link their astral shields 
And crowd in nebulous ranks the Milky Ways, 
Or rove, unnoted, interstellar fields. 
So men revere the peerage of the past 
Nor heed the light by lowly sainthood cast. 



68 



pilarims of tbe Cross. 



SAINTS OF TO-DAY. 

WE are encompassed in our daily round 
By a vast multitude, a mighty throng, 
A cloud of witnesses, whose souls the song 
Of praise to God utter without a sound. 
In whose pure hearts trust, hope and love abound, 
Whose instant prayers ascend on noiseless wings, 
Whose proof of faith in secret alms is found, 
The sacrifice claimed by the King of Kings. 
Who are these saints that wear no earthly crown 
Of glittering gems, or yet more royal thorns? 
No outward sign of holiness adorns 
Their plain humanity ; in field or town 
They move unseen save by the Sleepless Eye 
That reads all hearts — the Conscious Destiny. 



69 



SeeFters Bftec (3od. 



TO A SAINT ON EARTH. 

It ^ EEK Mary, thou hast chosen the better part ; 
^ * -*■ Then why dost thou cumber thyself with cares ? 
The great world thou livest in onward fares, 
In spite of the burdens laid on thy heart ; 
That world will wag on though thy conscience start 
For fear that thy work is not fully done ; 
And yet thou art busy from rise of the sun 
In deeds for others in temple and mart. 
Thy hands are apt and thy will is strong, 
Thy mind is alert and thou dost not shun 
Toil for thy fellows ; the good work begun 
By thee to the end must be carried along. 
'Tis thus that the web of the world is spun 
By a Mary and Martha joined in one. 



70 



IMldttms ot tbe Cvoee. 



TO A SAINT IN HEAVEN. 

ALONG sequestered paths her spirit trod, 
^ ^ And shunned the highway and the world's hot glare ; 
You knew her for a chosen child of God, 
Who breathed His graces as her native air. 
But ne'er forgot her Father's loving care. 
Erect in soul before her fellow man. 
Her high born dignity bent down to share 
Each common woe that mars life's rounded plan. 
The oil of gladness in her hand she bore 
And poured it as a balm for every wound, 
And lightened every fellow sufferer's lot ; 
So grateful eyes saw in her garb no spot, 
But angel's vestments, and beheld her crowned — 
But I — shall I see her loved face no more .-* 



71 



part SeconO. 

^be Hbsolute. 

Zbe Qx^ of Jfaltb. 



The Cty of Faith. 

' ' The Heavens declare the glory of God ; 
And the firmament sheweth his handywork." 

— Psalm xix. 

' ' For I will consider thy heavens, even the works of 
thy fingers ; the moon and the stars which thou hast 
ordained. What is man that thou art mindful of him ? 
And the son of man that thou visitest him ? Thou madest 
him lower than the angels, to crown him with glory and 
worship." — Psahn via. 

" If thou. Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done 

amiss, O Lord, who may abide it ? " 

— Psalm cxxx. 

"Praise him, sun and moon; 

Praise him, all ye stars and light ; 

Kings of the earth and all people ; 
Princes and all judges of the world." 

— Psalm cxlviii. 



75 



THE ABSOLUTE. 

¥ — I AM alone in the universe ; vainly 

-*■ A foothold I seek in its void and its vastness 

Unless there be One whose Being enfolds me. 

What staff or support hath the soul here to lean on? 

What stay for the spirit that flags in its flight .-' 

What rest for the body and brain in the struggle .'' 

What refuge for man when the hour arriveth 

That closes the gate on his dreaming forever .-* 

Can friend, child, or wife, or his sore stricken father, 

Or the mother that bore him arrest the dread mandate 

That summons him back to the black vast oblivion 

Which wraps the creation and all of its children ? 

Do we know, can we see, will our groping and peering 

Reveal to us aught of the vision beyond it ? 

76 



tTbe absolute. 

One answer alone can give us assurance, 

Bring rest to the heart and peace to the spirit ; 

Faith in the All-Father, trust in our Creator, 

Who planned in His Infinite Wisdom our being, 

Who guards all our goings, with goodness omniscient, 

Granting goodness, not woe, as man's portion forever. 

If man sin. if he falter and fail in the conflict, 

And baffled, defeated, o'erthrown in the combat, 

Lies stretched where the sand of the world's mad arena 

Soaks his blood and his tears, and, lowering o'er him. 

Dark Nemesis frowns, he may still trust the Ruler, 

Whose infinite wisdom and justice and mercy 

Have ordered the contest with purpose unfathomed ; 

Who will pluck the poor wretch from the depths of his 

sorrow. 
I will trust ; I will worship ; I will bend the strong pinions 
Of my mind, heart and soul to find my Redeemer, 
With mine eyes to behold the Lord who delivers. 
The Saviour who ransoms and rescues the vanquished. 



77 



Seeftere Bftcr 0o&. 



THE ABSOLUTE. 

'VV'T'HENCE came He, the Maker of earth and 

'^' of heaven, 
Creator of all things, immanent, abiding. 
The Ruler, the Reason, the Process Eternal, 
Who sways constellations, yet dwells in the atom ? 
Before time and space and beyond human thinking 
And in the beginning was the Father Almighty, 
Self existent and acting in conscious creation ; 
And One with the Father was the Word Uncreated, 
Who reveals to the finite the Infinite Thought. 
The heavens declare God's glory and goodness, 
And the firmament showeth the work of His hands ; 
For its arch He hath builded with splendor supernal, 
And with His crown jewels its portals emblazoned 

78 



Zbe Bbsolute. 

And His meteor banners stream through the expanse. 
Suns and planets speak to us in praise of their Maker, 
And the spheres chime together in time's morning hymn ; 
Their voices are those of His ministering angels, 
With messages meant for the children of men. 
But forth from His Godhead a beam more transcendent 
Came with reason to illumine the eye of the mind 
And teach it to read the vast volume of nature. 
Wherein may be spelled in the scroll spread above us, — 
The primer, the horn-book, of Absolute Power — 
The lessons God's finger hath traced for His sons. 
There man learns that suns and their satellites blazing. 
The lamps of the darkness and lamps of the day, 
Are more than the pledges that lovers plight troth by, 
Or the flambeaus that brighten the wayfarer's path, 
Than the mariner's guide, or the soothsayer's fetich ; 
They are symbols and proof of an order divine. 
Their hosts, as unnumbered as flakes of the snowdrift. 
With the mystery of beauty have nourished men's souls ; 



79 



Sccfters Bfter (5o&. 

Yet through ages on ages and aeons past counting 
They have moved to the rhythm of unfaiHng law. 
Yea, mighty beyond man's conception or vision 
Is the swing of the stars in the cosmic procession, 
As they march in their courses forever and ever. 
Great worlds with a bulk so supreme, so tremendous. 
Our earth shrinks before them to an atom of dust ; 
Star-clusters arranged in superb constellations, 
And nebulous wings of world systems o'erthrown, 
Taking flight from the fields where chaos hath conquered ; 
What are these but gems in the hem of His garment, 
The fringe of His robe in the trail of the Glory 
That envelops the Infinite Reason and Force ; 
Sparks, scintillations in the process of motion, 
By which to His creatures the Absolute Spirit 
Maketh manifestation of kinship and love ? 
Sing, sing, O ye stars, in a symphony choral. 
And in harmony harp forth the music of spheres, 



80 



Zbc BDdoIute. 

And man, thou poor mite, frail, faulty and fleeting, 
Yet heir to the Highest and crowned an immortal, 
Self conscious, triumphant in the love of the Father, 
Rise and soar as thy soul resounds with God's praise ! 




0-SyffBfIfJI 



P.,,„ 



\n 




